Short Summary

Sap being collected in the Amazon to make rubber - sap then processed.

Description

"This is a tale of how the women of the Amazon bleed the trees and harvest the valuable latex sap - "

L/S of woman collecting sap from trees. Woman walks towards the camera then stops at a tree to collect the sap. C/U of woman cutting into the trunk of the tree. C/U of her removing the collecting cup and pouring the milk from the cup into a large gourd or natural vessel.

"By the alchemy of smoke and patience, the sap is cooked into raw rubber." M/S of woman sitting by a fire spooning the rubber mixture over a large oval lump in the middle of a pole over the heat. A dog jumps up and down excitedly while she works.

"Down the broad Amazon, the boats transport it to Para, the great rubber town." High angle L/S of the town. "Here in the sheds, Adam cuts and grades the rubber." M/S of the men at work, they throw the oval lumps of rubber seen earlier into a pile. C/U of one of the lumps of rubber being cut down the centre then cut into smaller lumps. "And that's how the raw material is prepared for civilisation - the result of woman's work in the depths of the forest." L/S of men at work splitting the ovals of rubber.